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Francis Stealth
Francis Stealth is a Hero who was formerly a member of Alpha 1 Team and Hero Recon Team. He now leads Theta 4 Team. Biography Rookie Sometimes, Heroes don’t quite live up to their names. Francis Stealth was built with recon in mind, but since Hero Factory Management intended to deploy him to Tansari VI, major elements of his design had to be changed at the last minute. His armor and weapons were engineered to be more rugged and less stealthy to be more suitable for that planet’s harsh environment. Tansari VI was riddled with villains who wanted to steal the energy cells being produced on the planet, so Stealth had to learn how to fight and capture them. He became well versed in direct combat, again going against his name. For the year that Stealth was stationed there, he managed to catch at least five villains every week, a rare feat. One day, Stealth caught a trio of villains and loaded them into the back of a transport van. As he began driving them to the local Hero Factory station, a severe storm set in. It wasn’t an unusual occurence on Tansari VI, but that particular storm was so bad that Stealth narrowly avoided crashing multiple times on his way back to the station. “It’s good to see you made it back,” said Archibald Technium, the local mission manager. “We’ve got a problem. You know that when there’s a storm, there’s a chance of communications going down.” “I guess that’s a problem, but we sometimes lose communications even when it’s not storming,” said Stealth. “Yes, but it’s a little worse than normal this time. Our meteorologist is saying the storm may stick around for a day or two. And it gets worse. Thresher, you know, the leader of Alpha Team? He’s been on hold for the past three hours waiting to interview you.” “Oh! I can see why you’re concerned. Tell him that I’ll be right there.” Stealth went to his quarters and hung his weapons on the wall. Then, he took a seat next to a charging cable, which he plugged into his Hero Core. He spent the next couple minutes mentally preparing himself for the interview while listening to the constant thunder outside the station. Finally, he had the courage to connect his wireless communications to the station’s phone system. The first thing he heard was Thresher’s voice. “I’ve been waiting long enough. Let’s get this interview started, shall we? First off, are you Francis Stealth?” “Yes, sir,” answered Stealth. “Good. As you probably know by now, Von Ness abandoned Alpha Team during a mission a few months ago. You are one of the candidates for replacing him on the team. How does that make you feel?” Stealth leaned back in his chair. “I don’t know anything about any of the other candidates, but I feel like I would be the best fit for the team.” “Really? Then tell me what attributes, abilities, or skills you have that make you the best fit for the team.” “My villain-catching record over the past year shows that I am a serious Hero dedicated to maintaining law and order. In addition—” A bright flash filled the room as a deafening boom overloaded Stealth's hearing receptors. When the lightning flash faded away, the room was completely dark. A few seconds later, the auxiliary power kicked in and the lights turned back on, but the call with Thresher was disconnected. Stealth yanked the charging cable from his chest and ran back to the mission control room. “What happened? Can you get Thresher back on the phone?” asked Stealth. Archibald continued staring at his screen. “The lightning strike briefly knocked out our communications system. I’ve been trying to call Thresher back, but he’s not answering. I’m sorry, Stealth, but I don’t think you’re going to become part of Alpha Team.” There was nothing Stealth could do about it. He continued his normal daily routine of going to the power plants and arresting villains, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the opportunity he missed. A week later, after a long day of work, Stealth drove back to the station in his van. He saw someone standing outside the front door. The rain was so heavy that he couldn’t tell exactly who it was, but he figured it was Archibald. “What are you doing out here?” asked Stealth. “I have some news for you. Come inside and let me show you!” Archibald ran inside and sat down at his computer in mission control. “I got another call from Thresher earlier today. I told him to leave a message for you. So, here’s how that went.” Archibald pressed a key on his keyboard, and the message began to play back. “Hello, this is Thresher, leader of Alpha Team. Stealth, our interview didn’t last very long, but I was struck by the bold claim you made. After the call was interrupted, I looked up your mission logs to see if your claim had any merit. There’s only one thing I can say. I was more impressed by your mission performance than by any of the other dozens of candidates I interviewed. I would like to invite you to Makuhero City to meet with me and Stormer.” At a loss for words, Stealth just stared at his mission manager for several seconds. “Well, looks like you need to start packing your things,” said Archibald. Alpha Team With the addition of Francis Stealth, Alpha Team was going on missions for the first time since the Von Ness incident. The new roster proved itself when they stopped a band of space pirates roaming Galactic Sector 4, mostly thanks to Stealth’s fighting prowess. Then, they went to the Fabulox system and shut down most of the criminal hideouts there. When Alpha Team went back to Makuhero City later that year, they picked up two rookie Heroes, Drew Swift and Mike Power, who were being hyped up as the new faces of Hero Factory. The expanded team’s first assignment was to track down Zapsta on the mining planet Tallos V. They spent a month trying to track him down, but they couldn’t find any leads to follow. But one day, they received a report of a hijacked train that was transporting a shipment of quaza and other valuable minerals. When Alpha Team arrived on the scene, they found that Zapsta was the hijacker. After a protracted fight against a group of X-Series Flamethrower Robots that were also on the train, Stealth was able to apprehend Zapsta and stop the train. Apart from that, the mission was a disaster, resulting in the loss of Thresher, Swift, and Power. Stormer and Stealth went to the nearest prison to drop off Zapsta, but they didn’t talk to each other again until they got back to the Assembly Tower. Once they uploaded their mission logs and went to their quarters, Stormer had an opportunity to release the anger he had been keeping in for the past several days. He suddenly lashed out at Stealth, and they both began physically fighting each other. They continued until a lone Hero named Emily Wise came to see what was going on. Stealth and Stormer immediately stopped fighting and went back to normal. They explained to her what happened and allowed her to join them. With Wise joining Alpha Team, they continued to go on missions. However, there was a lot of friction between Stealth and Stormer, as they both thought they should be the team leader. Their heated arguments and disagreement over what needed be done in certain situations resulted in an unusually high percentage of failed missions. Eventually, Wise had to step in again, and she suggested that they ask Mr. Makuro to settle the issue. The two scheduled a meeting with Mr. Makuro and went to his office to talk with him. “I’ve been hearing all about the situation between you two,” began Makuro, “and how it’s affected your mission performance. I hope you both realize that everyone in the galaxy looks up to you to set an example, and that when things like this happen, it tarnishes the reputation of the entire Hero Factory.” “Yes, we understand. We need you to decide which of us will be the official leader of Alpha Team,” said Stormer. Mr. Makuro said nothing for several seconds as he made his decision. Finally, he said, “Preston Stormer, from the moment you received your first core charge, I knew you were destined to become a great leader. I cannot think of anyone in Hero Factory who would be better suited for the role of Alpha Leader than you.” “Really?” interjected Stealth. “You don’t think I have what it takes to be a leader?” “I never said that, did I? Francis Stealth, you are on Alpha Team for a reason. You are the best fighter I know, and you are relentless in the pursuit of justice. However, if you want to be a successful Hero, you must understand your role in the team. Any team that cannot work together will fall apart.” Stealth had no choice but to accept Stormer’s leadership of Alpha Team. However, the rivalry between the two continued for the next ten years, albeit to a much smaller extent. Occasionally, headlines such as, “STEALTH USURPS STORMER AS ALPHA LEADER” would pop up in the tabloids, but such reports were greatly exaggerated. A Secret Invitation Alpha Team spent most of 1996 patrolling the systems in Sector 7 (Lemus, Merak, and Tansari). When they returned to Makuhero City at the end of the year, Stealth went to his room and opened his personal safe. Inside, there was a plain white envelope with no writing on it. Intrigued, he took the envelope, tore it open, and unfolded the paper that was inside. The paper had only the following writing on it: “If you are reading this, then the ink is fading due to light exposure. Read it quickly! If you choose, you may walk (do NOT run or use any sort or mechanized transportation) to the northeast corner of the street that is seventh when measured south from the observatory, and the easternmost street that passes over both the Fox Expressway and the Jubilee Expressway. A vehicle will come to pick you up once you are there.” After determining that the two mentioned streets were 90th Street and 14th Avenue, Stealth told Stormer he was “going out for a walk” and walked at a leisurely pace toward the intersection. A few minutes after he arrived there, a taxi stopped right next to him and its back door opened for him. Once Stealth sat down in the taxi and closed the door, it drove off. The driver was a Hero whom Stealth did not recognize. “Where are you taking me?” asked Stealth. “I’m not allowed to disclose that right now,” said the driver, “but you’ll see once we get there.” The taxi drove west out of Makuhero City, into the mountains, and past the observatory. Just past the observatory, the taxi stopped at a gate guarded by a full squad of Heroes. Once the driver showed his identification and clearance level, they were allowed go through the gate. The road continued for another two hundred miles with nothing else along the way except for mountains, valleys, and more mountains. Finally, the taxi descended into a large valley and stopped at another gate, beyond which was a spaceport facility with a runway and a few buildings. “This is a secret Hero Factory complex, and you are one of the few who know about its existence. You are not allowed to talk about this with anyone unless they have proof of being a Hero Recon Team agent,” said the driver. “This is the Hero Recon Team base?” Stealth asked for clarification. “No. The Hero Recon Team base is in a different system. This is how we will get to the base.” Stealth and the other Hero took off from the secret spaceport in a spaceplane and travelled over 56 quadrillion miles to the frozen planet of Kollix IV. Their spaceplane landed somewhere on the polar ice sheet during the polar night. When Stealth got out and looked around the completely flat and featureless landscape, he asked the other Hero, “How did you know to land in this exact spot? Or are we completely lost?” “The instructions on how to land in the correct location are only given to the most trusted agents. Now, you may be able to see that large circle cut into the ice right next to your feet. If I enter the correct code on my remote while standing within ten feet of the ice circle, it will pop out and reveal the elevator that leads down into the Hero Recon Team headquarters.” The other Hero took Stealth to the conference room to give him his first Recon Team briefing. “Now, before we begin, let me introduce myself, since you didn’t seem to recognize me. I am Thelonius Fox, former leader of Alpha Team and founding member of Hero Recon Team. You have been selected to join Recon Team because of your unique recon equipment, your skill and experience, and most importantly, your dedication to serving the galaxy. Since you were an Alpha Team member yourself, you’re probably used to meeting and talking with members of the general public. In Recon Team, there won’t be any of that. You will only be allowed to share the confidential information we gather with Hero Factory Mission Control.” Hero Recon Team At first, Stealth did various jobs in the headquarters and went through intensive training. It wasn’t until about fourth months later that he was deemed ready to go into the field. His first task was to go to the city of Zallen on Sorntrez VII to investigate the corrupt regime of Emperor Cornelius Zo. The intelligence gathered during that mission eventually led to a successful Hero Factory mission to remove Zo from power. While Stealth was at Recon Team, evidence began to surface that after Von Ness abandoned Alpha Team in New Stellac City, he started and became head of a gang of high-profile criminals. And, worse yet, that Drew Swift and Mike Power ended up joining that gang. Over the course of several years, Stealth became a renowned Recon Team agent, being able to gather crucial information every time he was sent out into the field. He was also assigned to train most of the new agents who were recruited by the team. Tansari VI, the first planet Stealth was stationed on, was growing as a criminal hotspot. Thelonius Fox decided to go there to gauge the extent of the problem. Stealth was sent to provide cover for him. When they accidentally blew their cover tracking a prominent villain, they had to fight. Fox was damaged and disabled. Stealth was able to defeat the villain and bring Fox back to the Recon Team headquarters on Kollix IV. After three days of work trying to repair Fox, the engineers gave the disappointing news: Thelonius Fox, the leader of Hero Recon Team for forty years and member of Hero Factory for seventy years, could not be repaired. He was dead. Recon Team kept this a secret and immediately voted for a successor. A majority voted for Stealth, and he became the next head of Hero Recon Team. For the next four years, the primary goal of Hero Recon Team was to track down Von Ness and his henchbots. After the raid on the Palomino Diamond Vault on Deltari I, they determined that the next attack would be on New Stellac City, the same place where Von Ness deserted Stormer and Thresher all those years ago. Alpha Team was dispatched to New Stellac City and prepared for the fight of a lifetime. Stealth was also in New Stellac City when the fight between Alpha Team and Von Nebula’s gang went down. He watched the whole thing from a safe location. He hadn’t seen Stringer, Furno, Breez, or Surge before, but he was so in awe of the new Alpha Team’s performance that he decided he wanted to be part of the action again. He went back to Kollix IV with his colleague, Merrick Fortis, and he arranged a meeting with all of Hero Recon Team’s highest-ranking agents. “I’m glad I could get all of you together for this meeting. I have an important announcement to make,” began Stealth. The other agents, sitting at the briefing table, leaned forward in their chairs in anticipation of what Stealth was going to say. “I would like to leave Hero Recon Team.” Everyone in the room just stared at him in silence. Then, one of them began laughing. Before long, the entire room was filled with laughter. Once the laughter died down, one of them exclaimed, “Whew! That was a good one!” Fortis stood up. “I don’t know if you’re being serious, Stealth, but it goes against Hero Recon Team policy to leave the team. We can’t risk anyone leaking confidential information to the public.” “Are you saying you don’t trust me?” asked Stealth. “We trusted you enough to let you be interviewed on Hero Factory FM. Granted, for security reasons, you went by the pseudonym ‘Smith,’ but still, I chose to join Hero Recon Team, so I should be able to choose to leave Hero Recon Team.” Even when they realized he wasn’t joking around, they still refused to allow Stealth to leave Recon Team, but after a couple months of negotiations and compromises, they came up with the following contract. “I, Francis Stealth, agree to be permanently deactivated and scrapped if I do any of the following: # Talk about, mention, bring up, or share any details about what I have been doing or involved in between December 12, 1996, and the date of signing this contract. # Disclose the location or status of any current or former Hero Recon Team facilities or personnel. # Join Alpha Team. I also agree to share all my personal logs with Hero Recon Team for the purpose of enforcing this contract. The penalty for failing to do so shall likewise be permanent deactivation.” Fortis gave Stealth the final contract on a sheet of paper and said, “The rest of the team and I are still a little uncomfortable about you leaving the team, but the terms we’ve drafted should be enough to keep us safe while giving you enough freedom to do the things a normal Hero has to do.” Stealth skimmed through the document. “This isn’t too bad. But—hang on. I have to share all my logs? Permanent deactivation?” “I don’t want you to feel as if you are being pressured to do anything. But please keep this in mind. The rest of us at Hero Recon Team greatly value your contributions to the team. I would be a very different Hero if you weren’t the one who trained me.” “I know. Here’s the thing; I spent my early years fighting and busting villains. Ever since I watched Alpha Team beat Von Nebula and his goons, I’ve had this nagging desire to go back to, you know, fighting and busting villains.” “Well, take your time deciding. Remember that you have the choice to not sign the contract and continue working with us.” After mulling over the contract for a few more minutes, Stealth decided to sign it against the advice of Fortis, relinquishing his membership and leadership of Hero Recon Team. Then, he and several Hero Recon Team agents went to Makuhero City to receive the then-new 2.0 Upgrade. Building a Team The first thing Stealth needed to do was to put a team together. He went to Nathaniel Zib to see if he could help. “Hey, Zib. Stormer told me—” “I’m a little busy right now,” said Zib. “There’s a new rookie that was recently built. I’m currently monitoring his first training exercise.” Intrigued, Stealth decided to stay and watch. The new rookie was Jack Raven, a Hero who, like Stealth, was built with unique scouting features. After the training exercise, Stealth went to the training spheres to meet Raven and recruit him for his new team. Looking for a second Hero to join his team, Stealth went to the list of Heroes who weren’t on any team. He decided to take a gamble with Mary Force, a veteran sword duelist who was kicked from Omega 11 Team for being hard to work with. Stealth went back to Zib with his team, which was given the designation Theta 4. “I talked with Raven and Force, and we’ve decided that we need one more Hero to make this a complete team. Do you have any ideas for someone who would work well with us?” “I’m not an expert on the composition of Hero teams, but I do have an idea. Do you remember Drew Swift and Mike Power?” asked Zib. Stealth nodded. “I still have flashbacks to that dreaded mission on Tallos V. To know that they ended up the same way Von Ness did, well, that’s the main reason why I still have those flashbacks.” “Here’s the thing. Alpha Team just returned from a mission in New Stellac City. They found a criminal hideout where Swift and Power were operating from. But from the way Power behaved, we believe he is not actually evil, but is being forced by Swift to do evil things, if you know what I mean. So, if you’re looking for a challenge, maybe you can head over there and retrieve him. I think Mike Power could be a great asset to your team and all of Hero Factory.” With help from Alpha Team, Stealth and his teammates infiltrated the criminal hideout in New Stellac City and rescued Mike Power. Once Power was upgraded to 2.0 form, he became the fourth and final member of Theta 4 Team. Abilities and Traits There are three attributes that Francis Stealth possesses that earned him his spots on Alpha Team and Hero Recon Team: he’s tough, confident, and serious about his job. In his early years, he was also an in-your-face fighter, much like Bulk. As a Recon Team agent, Stealth became much more calculating and stealthy. Although he was a member of both Alpha Team and Recon Team, Stealth is not well-known, even among other members of Hero Factory. He can be socially awkward at times, as he will often try too hard to impress new people that he meets. Unlike most veteran Heroes, Stealth has a great appreciation and respect for rookies, which he gained during his years of training new Hero Recon Team agents. Powers and Equipment The most unique piece of equipment used by Stealth is his Senary Ocular System. With six visual receptors, he has access to thermal vision, night vision, and normal vision all at the same time. The tradeoff is that his mission logs take up three times more space on Hero Factory’s data servers. For offense, the Powered Double Crossbow fires chemically-propelled diamond-tipped arrows that can easily pierce armor. Up to five arrows can be loaded into each half of the weapon. Before joining Alpha Team, Stealth used a spiked fist weapon that was capable of inflicting serious blunt force trauma. After joining Alpha Team, he was given a tungsten carbide shield to use instead. It is very heavy, but it can stop a Meteor Blaster blast without getting a scratch. Stealth continued to use the fist weapon for certain missions, but over the course of a few years, he phased out its use completely in favor of the shield. Stats Category:Heroes Category:Male Heroes Category:Green Heroes Category:Living Heroes Category:LEGO Digital Designer Category:1.0 Heroes Category:2.0 Heroes Category:Team Leaders